An Eventful Week and Friends

Well like most, this week has been full.  I'll actually back up to last Saturday and talk for a minute about our family pictures.  Two of the best friends a girl could ask for took time away from their families to help me capture some really great pics of me with mine.  Melody and Rachael are amazing friends. I LOVE you both!  My only regret that day is not putting the camera in Wesley's hand and getting him to take a picture of the 3 of us.  I have almost no pics of me with girlfriends.  Hummmm, why is that?  Oh yeah, were always super busy!

Crazy me!  I just uploaded a whole bunch of pictures to the blog and then remembered I wasn't planning on letting the grandparents see all of those pictures just yet!  So no more sneak peaks unless you are on my friend list on Facebook.  Ha!  I've got sneak peeks up there!

Speaking of friends...Since Thanksgiving is just around the corner, I've joined others who are listing something they are thankful for each day in the month of November.  As I count my blessings, I can't help but think of all the amazing friends that God has placed in my life!  Like I said, I wish I had more pictures, but what I lack in pictures I make up for in memories.  There's been more than one time in my life that I've prayed for God to give me good friends.  True friends.  Sisters.  He has so abundantly answered that prayer.  God wants us to be in fellowship with each other.  He's in the relationship business.  He desires this for us.  I've also recently prayed that God would help me to be a better friend and to think of others before thinking of myself.  And He's helped me be more aware of what's happening around me too.  By the way, being a friend is the best way to gain friends!  I realized recently that through more than one unfortunate event, I've not seen one of my nearest and dearest since February!!  That's entirely too long!  We usually see each other at least two times a year if not more.  I'm just going to start praying right now that everyone will remain totally healthy so that we can make a trip the first of next year.  Maybe we will get snowed in when we visit!  There's another precious friend that I have not seen or even talked to in much, much longer.  She's someone from my past, and I wasn't always a good friend to her.  I'm hoping to reconnect sometime soon.

So to sum it up so far, picture day with friends on Saturday was great fun on many levels!  After pictures they stayed for dinner!  Family, Friends, and Food...does it get any better than that?  Ha!

Now the rest of our week looked a little like this...

Sunday was Sunday.  It was busy as usual, but good.  We ended up with someone under the weather Sunday night, and I stayed home to once again tend to the sick.  Fortunately it was very short lived, and no one else got it this time.

Then Monday we jumped into a busy school week!  ELECTION WEEK!!  So. Much. To. Learn!  Monday and Tuesday were spent just really digging into to all there is too learn.  I cannot describe to you how much we enjoyed the election process.  Too bad I cannot say the same about the election results.  The kiddos were all about it and were very intense!  Even Bella Peace was coloring her states red and blue until we made her go to bed around 9 PM.  That's getting pretty late for my little 4 year old.  We let Luke, Grace, and Mary Ruth stay up until a winner was declared.  They ended up going to bed around 11 PM.  I truly think they will remember this for the rest of their lives.  I don't remember ever being interested in any presidential elections when I was a kid.  It's so neat to share things like this with them.  I'm enjoying being the mom of big kids!  All I will say about the end result is that I'm not really expecting great things from our President for the next 4 years, but I am expecting God to move in mighty ways!  We are praying for a great revival in our country!

So it seemed like we barely slept and then it was Wednesday.  Many school activities, a couple or was it 3 appointments, Wednesday mission activities, and WHEW it was today!

Today was our school's spelling bee, and I was delighted that Luke and Grace were willing participants!   Mary Ruth was too young to do it this year, but she's waiting for her turn too!  It was more than enough for me that they were willing to participate.  Last year, they did not feel like they were quite ready.  Obviously every mom wants her child to do well, but I truly was most interested in this being a good experience especially since it was the first time for either of them to give it a try.  I just wanted them to participate, do their best, and have fun.  They did all three!  The fact they did well was just icing on the cake!  I should also say that I was not able to practice with them much at all in preparation for today, but they both chose to practice on their own.  Makes my heart swell!

Ugh!  Once again, no pictures!  Just tried to unload pictures and realized that in every picture I took they are either holding their certificates which have their full name on them or they are wearing name tags with their full name.  We avoid names on the internet.  Oh well, you'll just have to imagine.

Tomorrow is Friday.  Maybe we will rest....HA!!

Tomorrow is Election Day!!

My head is full of so many things tonight.  SO much on my mind.  And lots of it is BIG.  Like tomorrow.  I know that every single presidential election in our history has been so important, but I feel like tomorrow is HUGE!!  I have no plans to discuss politics here on the old blog, so I won't go into my thoughts other than to say that I've been a little bit anxious about tomorrow.  And to share something that I copied from one of our pastors.  I shared it on Facebook too, but some of my friends and family are not of Facebook and this is too good to miss:

10 Predictions no matter who wins the election:

The Bible will still have the answers

The Holy Spirit will still move

God will still inhabit the praises of His people

There will still be God-anointed preaching

There will still be singing of praise to our great God

God will continue to pour out blessings upon His people

There will still be room at the cross

Jesus will still love you

Jesus will still save the lost when they humbly come to Him

Prayer will still work!

Awesome reminders!  Thanks for posting this, Bro Greg!  We don't need to be anxious, God will still be ruler of all no matter who wins tomorrow.

On a lighter note, we had family pictures made last Saturday.  I'm planning an entire post about how much fun that was, but until then here's one of my FAVORITES!!

EDITED TO REMOVE PICTURE!  DUMMY ME WAS SUPPOSE TO BE SURPRISING GRANDPARENTS WITH THIS PIC!

Check back for more soon!!

OK now be sure to VOTE!!!

October 31

Here's a picture of My Little Pumpkins today!!  Ain't they precious!!

OK, so I wanted to share my thoughts on October 31 AKA Halloween.  Personally just hearing the name of this holiday makes me cringe just a little bit.  When I hear "Halloween", I tend to think dark, evil, witches, scary, etc.  That's just what comes to mind for me.  It wasn't always this way.  I grew up dressing up and going trick or treating and ALWAYS LOVED IT!!  I think that most years I dressed as a witch or a clown, because those were pretty easy.  Now I prefer not to acknowledge this day as a holiday.

I know that this is a very controversial topic.  Some Christians see no harm, and others think you are going to die and burn in hell if you dress your kid up and go door to door.  There's no denying that much about Halloween IS evil.  And the Bible definitely warns us to flee from even the appearance of evil, but the greatest tragedy and where Satan really wins is in pitting Christians against each other.  Condemning each other is also evil.  And prideful.  And I've done plenty of both.  This is not me on my high horse, because I struggle with pride and self-righteousness which is so horrible, because really I'm pretty despicable.  I think that dressing your kids in cute innocent costumes and going trick or treating is not evil.  I prefer not to do it, but I don't think it's evil.  I'm totally guessing here, but I'm inclined to think that the vast majority of parents and children who were trick or treating tonight, did not see any harm in it.  They have no conviction against it.  Here's Wesley favorite line to me, he says this all the time....IT ALL COMES BACK TO YOUR HEART!

I'd be remiss if I did not mention the real significance of October 31st for me.  On October 31, 2006 I gave birth to a very, very tiny baby boy.  His name was Samuel Thomas.  Luke helped name his first brother.  I LOVE that!  When planning for another baby, he begged us to name him Thomas after Thomas the Train.  Samuel was my pick, because I had asked the Lord for another son like Hannah did in the Bible.  Losing Samuel was/is one of the most life changing events in my life.  I don't know if this will make sense or not, but it's like my faith and my reality had a head on collision.  I was forced to decide whether or not I really believed what I had said that I believed.  It grew me in ways I could not imagine and changed me in ways that I did not expect.  It was shocking and heartbreaking and down right debilitating at times, and I know what I am about to say won't make since, but it was also a beautiful time.  Unfortunately, I've since suffered many other miscarriages.  The Lord has taught me different things through each loss, but this first loss was so significant in that it was my first.  It's when the naive girl who did not think that would ever happen to me who thought she was great at growing babies, realized that I am nothing and God is everything.

Sometimes this day makes me sad, but mostly it makes me grateful.  Heart so full that it feels like it's going to explode grateful.  God has been good to me.  He has been faithful.

I don't really care how you feel about Halloween.  I don't care if you trick or treat or not.  I just hope that you know Jesus.  That you really, really know Him.  And you know, I'm not sure that Jesus cares if you trick
or treat either.  I think He just cares about your heart just like My Wesley always says.  He's so wise!

Want another look at my cuties to make your heart swell too?  Here they are again!

By the way if you are one of the sweet people who gave us candy today just now that we LOVED every bite!  Thank you!

Who Knew?

Who knew how far a little gratitude and some new blankets would go?

OK, so this post is going to be all over the place.  And probably long, but pictures will be at the end.  Now brace yourself.

I've done a pretty good job of painting a good picture of the past 2 days with my fun blog posts, and mostly they've gone very well.  BUT the rest of the story is that I've been fighting a little self pity, because my plans have been seriously messed up.

Here's the story...A while back, Wesley requested a couple of days off from work so that we could take a fall break/mini vacation.  Second only to the beach in places to vacation is Kentucky.  Yep, Kentucky!  More specifically a family in Kentucky.  It's a really long and painful story, but we were actually supposed to go there this past weekend and it just wasn't to be.  :(  I grieved that disappointed for a while, but then I got really excited about our "staycation".  You've heard of "staycations", right?  It's when you stay at home for vacation.  We planned several free things to enjoy right here close to home.  And we were all very excited.  Then it happened, we started getting sick.  Elizabeth had been dealing with a little bit of a cold.  Then I got it bad.  Then Bella Peace got it.  And finally Elizabeth got it again.  Don't you just love when it goes full circle like that.  Even better or I should say worse is when Mama gets it!  UGH!!  So the staycation turned into a for real stay at home situation.  Can I just say that I was SO DISAPPOINTED!!  I mean it seems to always happen this way.

Wesley did manage to get out a couple times with the big kids and have some fun, and while I am really, really glad that they got to get out, it did not help my feeling any.  I was just disappointed a lot that I was the one stuck at home sick and taking care of the sick little ones.  BUT finally yesterday something changed.  I decided that I should do my best to have a good attitude and to enjoy the time with just the Littles.  So we did.  Bella Peace and I taught Elizabeth how to do the Hokey Pokey.  Cutest.Thing.Ever!!  And we played Hide-and-Seek together.  And we played a matching game.  And when we heard the others get home we ran and hide and played Sardines adding each person as they came in the house and found us.  Funniest part of that Wesley came in the house last and called out, "Where is everybody?"  From Luke's bedroom closet, Elizabeth yelled, "Daddy we are in the closet!!"  Ha!!  We all bursted out laughing!  Guess she needs more instruction on how to play Sardines!

Well after that things have been so much better, and my mind set has greatly improved.  Funny how a little gratitude and thankfulness always cures my case of "woe-is-me".

Transitioning to a new topic....today I washed all the bed linens.  I mean all the bed linens.  My washer and dryer were in constant use for about 12 hours, because I washed the sheets, mattress covers, comforters, pillow shams, and extra blankets that needed to be added to the beds now that it's getting cold.  I wanted to add an extra blanket to everyone's bed and it was just time to strip them down and get everything good and clean especially since we are all finally on the mend.  Ahhhh...I LOVE clean, fresh  sheets and blankets!  Don't you?

Well it was extra special for the girls, because I added brand new blankets to their beds.  Have you ever heard of the store Dirt Cheap?  Well if you haven't you should find out if their is a location near you, because it's incredible!  And even more incredible is my amazing mom and the steals that she brings home from that store.  She picked up these beautiful, warm, pink, new blankets for the girls.  A couple years ago she gave Luke one in brown, but since then she's been purchasing pink ones as she found them so that she could give each girl her own pink one.

When I tucked the girls into bed tonight, I said, "You want to know what beds in Heaven feel like?"  They were all like, "Well YES!"  Then I pulled back the covers and tucked each one in.  I wish I could have captured their reaction on video.  I don't have video, but I did grab the camera and take several pictures as they were ooooooing and ahhhhhhing like I do when I get a good piece of chocolate!  SO CUTE!!

Silly girls, laughing and refusing to open their eyes!

"Good Night!!"

I knew they would like them, but I was not expecting this kind of reaction?! Seriously they all just closed their eyes and melted.  I tried to get them to open their eyes for pictures, but they all refused!  Grace was the ring leader and insisted that she was too cozy to open her eyes.  Pretty, new, warm, clean, pink blankets...who knew?!

Thank you, Grandmother!!

My Country Kids

Recently my girls have become insanely crazy about being "cowgirls" especially Mary Ruth.  Mary Ruth desperately wants a farm and all that goes with it.  From the animals, especially horses - she is WILD about horses, to the appropriate attire, she is all about being a cowgirl!

Did you see my post about matching?  It's just below this post.  Well Grandmother picked up these matching shirts at a charity sale for literally pennies.  She gave them to me a while back to give to the girls, but I just broke them out today.  I had no idea how excited they would be.  They've declared these shirts their "cowgirl" shirts.   Too cute!!

Look closely at the picture above.  Mary Ruth recently lost a new tooth!  Definitely goes with the role, right?!  Ha!  Totally kidding!

Bella Peace has a matching shirt too, but she's had a fever for the past couple of day so she was inside.

Here's Luke being silly.  He was having a good time playing with this huge pumpkin that he picked out when we recently visited the local pumpkin patch.  Then he decided to show off his strength by picking it up.

Ummm yes it's heavy, but I think he's being a wee bit dramatic.  Guess that's to be expected since he is being raised in a house full of girls!

Ahhhh, finally!  So glad he did not drop it.  There would have been weeping and wailing.  Drama, remember?!

We live pretty far out and these kiddos think they want to be "country folk", but truthfully I don't know.  I think they might all be city slickers at heart!  Ha! 

My thoughts on matching

This picture totally cracks me up.  I LOVE this rowdy bunch!  Even though this picture is of Wesley and the big kids, it's still impossible to get "the perfect picture".  Fortunately I've come to accept this fact, and I can find humor in the crazy faces they give me.  One day, one day they will look back on these pictures and think why was I making that face.  Better yet, one day they will likely have children of their own and these are the faces that they will get when they take pictures!  Ha!

Well I'm home on this Sunday.  I'm home caring for the sick.  I thought about counting how many Sundays there have been this year, and then counting up how many I've been home caring for the sick.  You know I could do that, because I write EVERYTHING down on my calendar.  I decided it would not be the best use of my time, because it really does not matter.  It's just what we mothers do.

I'm determined not to do much today for a couple of reasons.  First because, it's Sunday.  We are supposed to lay around in our pjs and do nothing rest on Sundays, right?  Secondly because this is our staycation weekend.  Your definitely supposed to rest on staycation/vacation, right?

So I'm blogging.  Unbelievable I know!  I'm blogging while I sit next to the sick one.  I thought it would be fun to share these fun pictures from today.  I LOVE to take pictures on Sundays when everyone is dressed up and often matching!  Yes I'm one of those moms.

You might wonder about us odd ball moms who like to match/coordinate everyone in our family even when the kiddos start to get older.  I know it's not very cool or popular, but that's OK because we all LOVE it.  Well almost all of us love it!

So my thoughts on matching...well if they don't mind why not?  It makes for super cute pictures!  And really this started as something that I loved to do, but now all the kids love it and they work super hard on Saturday evenings to piece together outfits that match.  Wesley thinks it's kind of weird, over-kill, too much, but when Luke comes to him trying to find something to wear so that he can look just like  Daddy, well then Wesley cannot resist!

The best matching days are days when I don't go to church.  Ha!  I own the least amount of clothes in our family.  I've changed sizes several times over the past few years, mostly because I've been pregnant a lot.  And I just never seem to buy clothes for myself.  The kiddos have to get new or new used clothes, because they are constantly growing.  Wesley occasionally has to get new clothes because according to him "he's got to look good for work".  Uh huh.  OK, sure.  And if I ever get time or money to shop, I usually shop for Wesley and the kiddos.  It's way more fun!  Don't get me wrong, I do shop for myself sometimes, I just don't do it as often as I do for them.  I usually have a few basic things that I love and I wear them all the time.  I don't have the variety that everyone else has.  So all that to say that it's way easier to match or coordinate everyone when I'm not in the picture.

Occasionally (more like rarely) someone will tell me that they like for their family to match too, but that it's just too hard or costly to pull off.  First let me say, that I'm not the one that plans this anymore.  This is all Grace, Mary Ruth, and yes often Luke!  Also I very rarely spend money so that we can match.  Mostly it just happens.  Sometimes if the kiddos are in need of clothes I might come across a good deal and buy something that matches, but that really is the exception.  A lot of times grandparents buy things that match because they know how we all love it.  Take today's outfit...Wesley is wearing a sweater vest that was a gift from friends for Christmas a couple years ago.  Luke's sweater vest I got at a thrift store several years ago for $2.  He's just now getting into it.  Wesley and Luke's sweaters are not an exact match.  They are both argyle of course, but they have different colors.  In these pictures the colors look a lot more alike than they really are.  Grace's top was in a bag of hand-me-downs from sweet friends.  And Mary Ruth's dress was a birthday present.

Busy Lizzy jumped in the last two pictures.  It was hard for me to let her in, because obviously she is not matching, but I like to live on the wild side every now and then!  Ha, ha!!  She did not go to church this morning, so she was left out of the match up!

Oh what we go through to get a good picture...

Today was yearbook picture day.  I LOVE that our homeschool covering has a for real yearbook!  Today after having the individual shots made for the yearbook, I attempted to get a good picture of my crew.  Here's the results.

This next one is definitely my FAVORITE!!!!  Luke scratching his head totally cracks me up!

My cuties are really, really growing up!  

Katy

Well I know that I've been quiet on here lately, but today I'm breaking my silence for my amazing friend Katy!  I know that some of my family members and friends will think this strange and not understand what I'm doing here.  The short story is that I'm attempting to join other bloggers in playing a little match making!  Cross your fingers friends!

Now for those of you visiting today who know all about what I'm doing and why, please allow me to introduce Katy!!

This is the part where you say, "Awwwww she's so beautiful!!"  Katy is beautiful.  Really beautiful.  Inside and out!

Katy LOVES life!  She's so full of passion and fun.  She LOVES family.  She LOVES friends.  And most importantly, she LOVES the Lord.  

She has a way of making everyone she's with feel like they are the most important person in the world.  She thoughtful.  Oh so thoughtful.  She never fails to remember special occasions, anniversaries, birthdays, etc.  Maybe that's partly because she loves a reason to celebrate; although in fairness I should mention that she really does not need much of a reason to celebrate.  In her family they celebrate all kind of neat special occasions.  Speaking of family, Katy comes from a pretty great tight knit family.  It's easy to see where Katy gets her gift of hospitality, because her family is just as inviting.  They are all awesome like that! 

She's creative and talented.  I'm mean really creative and talented.  I wish I had the talent of her pinky finger.  You know those houses that you walk into that smell awesome and look even better.  Yeah, that's Katy's house.  Makes you just want to sit down and stay a while.  

I could just go and on, but my own Hubby just told me that I should save some good first date material for Katy to share herself.  I guess that's true.  Here's a couple other important details:  Katy is 31 years old and has never been married.  She lives in north Alabama.

And another thing, Katy has been preparing her whole life to be an amazing wife.  I know that in the dating scene you should not jump to talking about marriage so soon, but I just have to say that the guy that gets Katy is going to be so super blessed.  Honestly, he's probably already super blessed, because Katy has been praying for him already.

Folks this girl is going to make some man's dreams come true one day!  Oh how I just can't wait!!

If you want to contact Katy or if know more please leave me a message.  Of course, I'd be thrilled to share more!  And like many others participating in Kelly's link up, I'm praying for Katy and for the others out there looking to me their own someone special!  May God bring together some beautiful couples for His glory!

Kicked Out!

So I haven't blogged in a long time. It's hard for me to just jump back in and not try to catch up on the past 6 months, but I'm doing the hard thing. I'm jumping in with news from today. News that Wesley and I have been kicked out!! We've been kicked out of marriage counseling!! I know that could sound like a bad thing depending on why we were kicked out, (ha, ha!!) but it turns out that they think we are ready to fly on our own again. :)

To tell you about how we got to today I'll need to back up a little. So settle in for a minutes, because this is worth reading, and let's go back a few months or maybe a little further....

Wesley and I just celebrated 15 years of marriage. It has been a very, very good 15 years. Really it's been 18 years. I knew he was "the one" from the very beginning. No one could be more right for me! For 18 years we've been best friends. But late last year we started having some trouble. Stress seemed to come from every angle including the fact that had just suffered the loss of another baby. By the first of the year we were arguing more and communicating less. It was hard on us both. We were used to talking for an hour each night as we went to bed, but slowly we stopped going to bed at the same time all together.

Around that same time we found out that a couple we knew who had been married for a lot longer than us had separated. I just could not believe it. This couple was an amazing Godly couple who had it all together. They were happy. They had great jobs. A great house. Great kids. How could this be happening to them? And could what was happening to them happen to us? It was a scary thought. Wesley and I were both shaken up by this thought and desperately wanted to to get help.  We missed being best friends.

Sidebar: I do not know what God has in store for our friends who are now going through a divorce. It is so, so very heartbreaking. I am much closer to the wife than the husband, and I know that she is totally heartbroken. She loves the Lord and would do anything to restore her family. I cannot understand the pain their family is experiencing, but I do know that God has a good plan. I know that God can and does use these kind of things for good. As devastating as their situation is, I believe that God has already used it for good in that it served as a wake up call in our lives.  I'm praying for much more good to come from it!!

So there we were. Struggling in our marriage for the first time. I remember feeling shocked that we were struggling, because our marriage had been the one most constant stable good thing in my life. It had always been easy. We'd been really happy and had never really had trouble. But all of a sudden we both knew that things were not going so well.

Fortunately our church offers free biblical counseling. It was very hard to swallow our pride and admit to anyone we needed help. For the most part we looked really good on the outside. No one knew we were struggling. I wasn't sure that I wanted to sit across from counselors who are also fellow members of our church and air our dirty laundry or more specifically to share the truth about myself. I did not want other people to know that we did not/do not really have it all together. Also I thought maybe we would be wasting their time. Isn't marriage counseling for couples who have really serious problems like infidelity or something? Should we really take up their time? Finally one day I felt like I was at a breaking point, and I mustered up the courage to make a phone call.

It started with a simple phone call. I remember telling the counselor on the other line how much Wesley and I really both love each other and how little daily life stresses had just started taking their toll. She spoke with such a sweet, soft, calm spirit (something I so desire!), and she was so very encouraging. Now 5 months later after a ton of homework, a bucket full of tears, and a lot of Scripture and prayer, Wesley and I are truly best friends again. We are better than ever! I'm so thankful that we went. So thankful that the Holy Spirit nudged us both and helped us both have a willing spirit towards counseling.

I wrote earlier about how good our marriage had always been and how all of a sudden we were having problems. You know the truth is our marriage had never been perfect and there had always been little areas that we needed to work on. Also the things that were happening were not really "all of a sudden" after all. We had gotten by for 14 years pretty well, but when we really started to feel the pressure of long days, short nights, grief and loss, and really tough decisions we became weary and things started to fall apart. We were just not equipped like we needed to be to cope with these things. Biblical counseling has helped us to be more equipped.

Counseling has not only greatly improved our marriage, but it has swung the doors wide open and revealed so much to me about me. About the me I am. About the me I have been. About the me I want to be. And most importantly about the me I can be with Christ. I've struggled for years with my relationship with the Lord, because quite honestly I want to have it all - the whole, complete abundant life - without nurturing the relationship. I have wanted things - not material things, good things, like children for example - but I have wanted these things more than the Giver of these things. I still have a long way to go, but I am making baby steps. And I guess that is one of the greatest lessons for me in all this. Change does not come easy. It takes purposeful, consistent, intentional steps. It takes time. I have been so easily discouraged for years by the fact that changes does not come quick. I have wanted everything my way and in my time. I still want it that way, but I'm learning, slowly learning, to surrender my wants and my timing to Him.

Counseling has not been easy, but I'm starting to hyperventilate (ha, ha, just kidding) a little sad that it's ending. I'm not going to have the same weekly accountability and kick in the pants that's been so beneficial in keeping me on task. But at the end of the day, it's all up to me to do what I know that I need to do. I've been a hearer of the Word and not a doer for way too long.

As I wrap up let me say that my main purpose in sharing is to encourage anyone else who might be in a similar situation.  Whether it's in your marriage, in another relationship, or in your own personal relationship with the Lord. Swallow your pride. Speak to someone who is willing to offer true Godly counsel. Call the church about counseling if necessary. If you seek counseling from somewhere other than our church, please make sure that you are getting good sound biblical counseling, because nothing but The Word truly has the power to bring real lasting change.

Our biblical counseling sessions may have stopped, but I'm so encouraged that this is not the end.  It's just the beginning!



        


Did I mention that I LOVE THIS MAN?!!!! 


Top picture was taken on our 15th anniversary before we went out to dinner. Bottom picture was after church one Sunday a while back.


*This post was actually started yesterday 6/20 and finished today.  

Hello...Is Anyone Out There?

For those who are still following my blog, I've put up a new post on the new blog. Check it out! Also if you are still interested in following our blog, please be sure to save our new blog address. If you do not have our new blog address, please leave me a comment with your email address OR just email me directly to get the new address. This one will be taken down soon!!

Lately...

So I know that I've been MIA lately here in the blog world.  The Hubby has had/is having a few very busy weeks of work, which means me, the Wifey is also having a very difficult few weeks of work...on the home front that is.  BUT it's all about to lighten up.  1 week from today.  ONE WEEK FROM TODAY!!!  Wesley will no longer be working at this second job, the paper route.  AHHHHHH, we can't wait.

Lately, I feel a little bit like I've been whooped by a lawn chair.  Most of the time Sweet Baby E is the lawn chair.  Whew, that girl wears me out sometimes.

Do you understand now?  Good, now you understand why I've been MIA lately, but don't worry I'll be back soon.

In 2012 I hope to...

go to bed with all my dishes washed and my dishwasher unloaded

be more organized

spend more one on one time with each child

learn to knit and teach Grace and Mary Ruth how to knit as well

mend the stack of clothes that I have that need repairs, do it with my big girls

be on time more often

spend more time in the Word

listen more, talk less

go to bed earlier

stick to a schedule better

send birthday cards and thank you notes

read more

waste less time on the computer

give more to others, more of me, more of my stuff, more of my time, more of my money

stress less, worry less, trust more

spend more time with family

go to the beach

think more of others and their needs, less about my own

have twin boys (No, I'm not pregnant, but it (twin boys) could happen!! So that no one in my family hyperventilates let me say, I'm not even sure if we will have any more children.  We are diligently praying and seeking wisdom from the Lord in this area.)

exercise, eat healthier, lose 10 lbs and keep it off

share about My Jesus more often

plan better and procrastinate less

keep a cleaner more organized home

laugh more

be more content at peace and restful

enjoy the little moments each day

be more thankful

shop for Christmas in June

do more crafts with my kiddos (this will be a really hard one, because I HATE most crafts)

play more

most importantly grow even closer to Jesus.

This is just not an comprehensive list nor are is it in the list of priority.  These are just a few of the things I'm hoping to do in 2012.  I know that you must do more than "hope to do them".  I know that to make these things happen, you have to put your hopes into motion and be intentional. I've made some plans for how to put some of these into action.  I'm excited!!  How 'bout you?  What are you planning for 2012?

Oh and BTW if anyone out there wants to help me with some of the things on my list (mending, organizing, etc.), just jump right in!!  I'll take all the help I can get!

OK, got get going!  Remember, I'm trying to get to bed earlier.  AND, YAY!!!   My dishwasher is unloaded!!

Nite, Nite!!

Hello 2012, Good Bye Old Blog

Happy New Years!!!

I'm so excited about the new year.  I cannot wait to see what the Lord has in store.  I'm hoping to document as much of it as possible as we journey through....on my NEW BLOG!!!

That's right, Friends, I've started a new blog!!  You should receive an email or a Facebook message from me today with my new blog address.  If you don't and you are interested in finding us, please leave me a comment with your email address and I will send you the new blog address.

Blessings to you in 2012!!

Happy New Year!!

Welcome 2012!! Welcome to a brand new year!! Welcome to our new blog!! I'm still blogging about the same old craziness, but it's our life!! And we are proud to share it with you here on our new blog.

 I LOVE new beginnings. Clean slates. I LOVE New Year's Day! I'm definitely a goal setting,new year's resolution kind of girl. One of my my goals for a while now has been to create a new blog with a little added privacy for the protection of my precious family. So here it is!!  What do you think?

I'm planning to tweak it a bit more and add a few more things, but my goal was to have it up and running by New Year's Day, so I'm revealing it in it's less than perfect state. I think the new blog in it's unfinished state with a new title is a better representation of our real life right now.  Less than perfect. Waaaay less than perfect. Definitely still a work in progress.  So thanks so much for dropping by!  It's sure to be a crazy ride, but maybe along the way you too will see some beauty in the making!

Thou crownest the year with thy goodness.

Psalm 65:11